Posted on by

Organization earns second NASCAR premier series title

Kevin Harvick, driver of the No. 4 Budweiser/Jimmy John’s Chevrolet SS for Stewart-Haas Racing (SHR), won his first NASCAR Sprint Cup Series championship tonight at Homestead-Miami Speedway.

It is Harvick’s first Sprint Cup championship and the second for SHR since its inception in 2009. SHR won the 2011 Sprint Cup title with driver-owner Tony Stewart.

The following are some anecdotes regarding the 2014 Sprint Cup Series Champions.

· This is Kevin Harvick‘s eighth driving title in his 33 years of racing. His other titles are:
— 2014 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series Championship
— 2006 NASCAR Nationwide Series Championship
— 2002 IROC Series Championship
— 2001 NASCAR Nationwide Series Championship
— 1998 NASCAR K&N Pro Series West Championship
— 1993 Late Model Track Championship at Mesa Marin Raceway in Bakersfield, California
— 1987 World Karting Association National Championship
— 1985 World Karting Association National Championship

· This is Rodney Childers first championship as a crew chief in NASCAR.

· This is the second Sprint Cup championship as a car owner for team co-owners Stewart and Gene Haas.
— 2014 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series Championship with the No. 4 team of Harvick
— 2011 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series Championship with the No. 14 team of Stewart

· This is Stewart’s 21st overall championship as a car owner.
— Two NASCAR Sprint Cup Series Championships:
— 2014 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series Championship with Harvick
— 2011 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series Championship via himself
— Five World of Outlaws Sprint Car Series Championships:
— 2014 World of Outlaws Sprint Car Series Championship with Donny Schatz
— 2012 World of Outlaws Sprint Car Series Championship with Schatz
— 2009 World of Outlaws Sprint Car Series Championship with Schatz
— 2008 World of Outlaws Sprint Car Series Championship with Schatz
— 2001 World of Outlaws Sprint Car Series Championship with Danny Lasoski
— Fourteen USAC Championships:
— 2013 USAC Sprint Car Championship with Bryan Clauson
— 2013 USAC Silver Crown Championship with Bobby East
— 2011 USAC Sprint Car Championship with Levi Jones
— 2011 USAC Silver Crown Championship with Jones
— 2010 USAC Sprint Car Championship with Jones
— 2010 USAC Silver Crown Championship with Jones
— 2008 USAC Sprint Car Championship with Jones
— 2007 USAC Sprint Car Championship with Jones
— 2006 USAC Sprint Car Championship with Josh Wise
— 2005 USAC Silver Crown Championship with J.J. Yeley (Stewart co-owned team with Bob East)
— 2004 USAC Silver Crown Championship with Yeley (Stewart co-owned team with Bob East)
— 2003 USAC Sprint Car Championship with Yeley
— 2003 USAC Silver Crown Championship with Yeley (Stewart co-owned team with Bob East)
— 2002 USAC Silver Crown Championship with Yeley (Stewart co-owned team with Bob East)

Anecdotes:

· Harvick joins Bobby Labonte and Brad Keselowski as the only drivers to earn both a NASCAR Sprint Cup Series championship and a NASCAR Nationwide Series championship. Harvick is a two-time Nationwide Series champion (2001 and 2006).

· Harvick is only the third Sprint Cup driver since 2000 to lead more than 2,000 laps in a single season. Harvick led 2,137 laps in 2014. Jimmie Johnson led 2,238 laps in 2009 and Jeff Gordon led 2,320 laps in 2001. Both Johnson and Gordon went on to win the championship in those years.

· Harvick led a lap in 27 of the 36 Sprint Cup races in 2014. His longest streak of consecutive races with at least one lap led was nine, beginning Aug. 23 at Bristol (Tenn.) Motor Speedway and continuing through the Oct. 19 race at Talladega (Ala.) Superspeedway. His longest stretch of races without a single lap led was three, starting June 28 at Kentucky Speedway in Sparta lasting through July 13 at New Hampshire Motor Speedway in Loudon.

· The most laps Harvick led in a single Sprint Cup season prior to 2014 was 895 laps in 2006.

· In nine seasons prior to 2014, teams led by crew chief Rodney Childers led a total of 879 laps. Among the seven drivers Childers worked with during this span, Mark Martin was the leader with 295 laps led during the 2012 and 2013 seasons.

· Of the 24 track qualifying records set during the 2014 Sprint Cup season, Harvick accounted for six of them. No other driver had more than four.
— April 5 at Texas Motor Speedway in Fort Worth (Round 1: 27.234 seconds at 198.282 mph)
— May 9 at Kansas Speedway in Kansas Speedway (Round 2: 27.741 seconds at 194.658 mph)
— June 13 at Michigan International Speedway in Brooklyn (Round 3: 35.198 seconds at 204.557 mph)
–This was the fastest pole-winning speed since April 1987 when Bill Elliott set the all-time Sprint Cup qualifying record of 212.809 mph at Talladega Superspeedway.
— July 26 at Indianapolis Motor Speedway (Round 1: 47.753 seconds at 188.470 mph)
— Aug. 22 at Bristol Motor Speedway (Round 2: 14.607 seconds at 131.362 mph)
— Oct. 3 at Kansas Speedway in Kansas City (Round 2: 27.304 seconds at 197.773 mph)

· Harvick won a career-high eight poles in 2014. In his previous 13 years as a Sprint Cup driver, Harvick won a total of six poles.
— April 11 at Darlington (S.C.) Raceway
— May 9 at Kansas Speedway
— June 13 at Michigan International Speedway
— July 26 at Indianapolis Motor Speedway
— Aug. 22 at Bristol Motor Speedway
— Aug. 29 at Atlanta Motor Speedway
— Sept. 26 at Dover (Del.) International Speedway
— Oct. 3 at Kansas Speedway

· Harvick finished among the top-five in the Sprint Cup championship standings six times prior to 2014. His previous career-high point finish was third, which he did three times (2010, 2011 and 2013).

· Harvick finished 25 of 36 Sprint Cup Series races with a driver rating better than 100.0, including four races with a driver rating better than 140.0. Harvick scored his only perfect driver rating (150.0) Nov. 9 at Phoenix International Raceway where he led three times for a race-high 264 laps en route to the victory.

· Harvick ended the 2014 season as the leader in the following loop data categories:
— Driver Rating: 110.5
— Fastest Early in Run: 4.710
— Fastest Laps Run: 1,233
— Fastest Green Flag Speed: 4.387
— Most Laps Led: 2,137
— Mileage Leader: 2,716.86

· Harvick’s championship is the 30th driver title for Team Chevy in the Sprint Cup Series.

MORE:

READ: Latest
NASCAR news

WATCH: Latest
NASCAR video

PLAY: NASCAR
Fantasy Live

FOLLOW LIVE: Get
RaceView
Posted on by

Victory clinches NASCAR Sprint Cup Series championship

RELATED: Complete race results | Final driver standings | Photos from Homestead

HOMESTEAD, Fla.—The fastest driver doesn’t always win a race—or a championship—but on Sunday at Homestead-Miami Speedway, Kevin Harvick did both.

Driving a No. 4 Stewart-Haas Racing Chevrolet that has been the class of the field for most of the 2014 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series season, Harvick won Sunday’s Ford EcoBoost 400 at the 1.5-mile intermediate track and claimed his first premier series championship after a three-lap drag race against underdog title contender Ryan Newman.

Harvick was so wrapped up in the championship battle that the victory in the race didn’t register right away.

"I forgot we won the race—how about that?" Harvick chuckled. "I think this Chase is about the best thing that has happened to this sport over the last decade. This is probably going to shorten the drivers’ careers, because it’s been so stressful, but I want to thank every single fan for sticking with this sport, and to the industry for working to get it right."

FULL CHASE COVERAGE

• Chase hub page
• Chase Grid games
• #MyChaseNation

After the 13th caution slowed the field on Lap 263, the result of debris dripping from the No. 32 Ford of Blake Koch, Harvick led the field to green on Lap 265 of 267 with Newman beside him.

Newman stayed to the inside of Harvick’s car through the first corner, but Harvick, on four fresh tires to Newman’s two, cleared the No. 31 Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet and pulled away to a half-second victory.

Under NASCAR’s new elimination format for the Chase for the NASCAR Sprint Cup, the driver who won five times, including Sunday, and led 2,137 laps throughout the season beat the driver who was winless with 41 laps led by a single point.

In his first season with SHR, Harvick won for the first time at Homestead and for the 28th time in his career. With the highest finisher among the Championship 4 contenders assured of the title, Denny Hamlin came home seventh, and Joey Logano ran 16th after a disastrous late-race pit stop.

Harvick’s crew chief, Rodney Childers, made a critical call to bring Harvick to pit road for four tires under caution on Lap 249. With three cars staying on the track and eight others taking right-side tires only, Harvick restarted 12th, but two quick cautions fell his way.

Harvick made up six positions almost immediately and restarted sixth after the 12th caution for an accident involving Koch and J.J. Yeley on Lap 255.

"I knew I needed to get a bunch of (positions)," Harvick said. "I was fortunate to start on the outside. The seas kind of parted there as I came off of Turn 2 and was about to get four or five of them; I don’t really know, but it was time to go for broke at that particular point.

"When the next caution came out, we were fortunate enough again to line up on the outside (for the restart on Lap 259). That was pretty much what we needed—to get the run on the outside down the backstretch."

On the final restart against Harvick, Newman said he contemplated the sort of all-or-nothing move he had used a week earlier against Kyle Larson to edge Jeff Gordon by one point for the final position in the Championship 4 Round.

But Newman quickly thought better of the idea.

"In the end, I just got down underneath him and he was close enough to me, took some of the air away from me," Newman said. "I could have kept it wide open and washed up into him, and it wasn’t the right move. It wasn’t what I would have wanted him to do to me.

"If we were close enough on the last lap, it might have been a different game, but I wasn’t. I slipped off of Turn 4 coming to the white, and at that point it was pretty much over. I really was hoping he would slip a tire, blow a motor, something like that. That was our only hope. All those things go through your mind, but I had a pretty good run and cut down to the bottom and just ran out of racetrack, ran out of room, and he had the air—he had the line."

Hamlin, who forewent a pit stop on Lap 249 when most of the other lead-lap cars came to pit road, restarted in the lead on Lap 259, with Newman second and Harvick sixth, but Hamlin’s No. 11 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota quickly fell victim to cars on superior tires.

By the time NASCAR called the 13th caution on Lap 262, Hamlin had dropped to third behind Harvick and Newman, and he fell back to seventh in the final three-lap run.

"For me, there’s not one thing I would have done different," Hamlin said. "I mean, we brought a car that was capable of winning. I just don’t know how to express it enough. Sometimes breaks go your way; sometimes they don’t. They just didn’t go our way.

"There’s not much else we could have done with the strategy that we played with the cautions that came out. I wouldn’t do a thing different. I think we overachieved greatly by being here, and we haven’t had the speed to compete for race wins all year, and we did today, on the race that really mattered. Just came up short."

Logano’s first flirtation with a title came to an inglorious end when the No. 22 Team Penske Ford fell off the jack as the crew was changing left-side tires under caution on Lap 249. Last out of the pits, Logano restarted 29th on Lap 253 and could recover only to 16th by the checkered flag.

"It’s hard to be proud right now after coming home wherever we finished in this race," said Logano, who gets credit for fourth in the championship standings despite winning five races. "I don’t even know what that is. I don’t even care.

"You don’t get shots at championships often. Hopefully we get another next year. This car had a lot of wins and a lot of top fives, and it doesn’t mean a thing."

Gordon, the Coors Light Polesitter, led 161 laps, but came to pit road for tires on Lap 256 and wasn’t a factor the rest of the way, finishing 10th.

Notes: Kyle Larson finished 13th and was the runaway winner of the Sunoco Rookie of the Year award after an outstanding freshman season… Marcos Ambrose finished 27th in his final race for Richard Petty Motorsports before returning to his native Australia to race V8 Supercars for owner Roger Penske… The victim of an early accident, Carl Edwards ran 34th in his final trip in the No. 99 Roush Fenway Racing Ford before moving to Joe Gibbs Racing next season. It was also the last race as a crew chief for Edwards’ veteran pit boss, Jimmy Fennig… Chevrolet won its 12th straight manufacturers’ championship and 38th overall.

MORE:

READ: Latest
Chase news

PLAY: Monitor your Chase Grid Game picks

WATCH: Latest
NASCAR video

FOLLOW LIVE: Get
RaceView
Posted on by Staff Report

Moments that changed the course of the 36th race of the 2014 season

FOUR-TIRE CALL HELPS HARVICK WIN RACE, CHAMPIONSHIP

The fastest driver doesn’t always win a race — or a championship — but on Sunday at Homestead-Miami Speedway, Kevin Harvick did both.

Driving a No. 4 Stewart-Haas Racing Chevrolet that has been the class of the field for most of the 2014 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series season, Harvick won Sunday’s Ford EcoBoost 400 at the 1.5-mile intermediate track and claimed his first premier series championship after a three-lap drag race against underdog title contender Ryan Newman.

Harvick was so wrapped up in the championship battle that the victory in the race didn’t register right away.

UPS

"I forgot we won the race — how about that?" Harvick chuckled. "I think this Chase is about the best thing that has happened to this sport over the last decade. This is probably going to shorten the drivers’ careers, because it’s been so stressful, but I want to thank every single fan for sticking with this sport, and to the industry for working to get it right."

After the 13th caution slowed the field on Lap 32, the result of debris dripping from the No. 32 Ford of Blake Koch, Harvick led the field to green on Lap 265 of 267 with Newman beside him.

Newman stayed to the inside of Harvick’s car through the first corner, but Harvick, on four fresh tires to Newman’s two, cleared the No. 31 Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet and pulled away to a half-second victory.

Under NASCAR’s new elimination format for the Chase for the Sprint Cup, the driver who won five times, including Sunday, and led 2,137 laps throughout the season beat the driver who was winless with 41 laps led by a single point.

In his first season with SHR, Harvick won for the first time at Homestead and for the 28th time in his career. With the highest finisher among the Championship 4 contenders assured of the title, Denny Hamlin came home seventh, and Joey Logano ran 16th after a disastrous late-race pit stop.

Harvick’s crew chief, Rodney Childers, made a critical call to bring Harvick to pit road for four tires under caution on Lap 249. With three cars staying on the track and eight others taking right-side tires only, Harvick restarted 12th, but two quick cautions fell his way.

LOGANO LOSES TITLE SHOT AFTER JACK FALLS ON PIT STOP

Joey Logano’s first flirtation with a title came to an inglorious end when the No. 22 Team Penske Ford fell off the jack as the crew was changing left-side tires under caution on Lap 249. Last out of the pits, Logano restarted 29th on Lap 253 and could recover only to 16th by the checkered flag.

"It’s hard to be proud right now after coming home wherever we finished in this race," said Logano, who gets credit for fourth in the championship standings despite winning five races. "I don’t even know what that is. I don’t even care.

"You don’t get shots at championships often. Hopefully we get another next year. This car had a lot of wins and a lot of top fives, and it doesn’t mean a thing."

NEWMAN CAN’T GET CLOSE ENOUGH TO BUMP HARVICK FOR WIN

Qualifying 21st, Ryan Newman fought an uphill fight throughout the race but clawed his way to fifth in the running order by Lap 72. Newman’s car proved to be excellent on fresh tires but drifted back to the pack late in long runs.

"We fought back hard," Newman said. "We were one spot short and probably (had) one caution too many for us. But that’s the way it happens. That’s part of racing. Kevin and those guys did a good job of putting themselves in position and had the better tires in the end. It paid off for them."

Lambert made a potentially decisive move when a crash involving Blake Koch and J.J. Yeley brought out a caution with 11 laps to go. Lambert took right side tires only, sending Newman out alongside title contender Denny Hamlin, now on the front row but on older tires.

Newman, however, didn’t get the restart he had hoped and Harvick, restarting sixth on fresh tires, capitalized by sweeping to the lead within a lap. Harvick then managed to hold off Newman on one final restart with three laps to go.

"Luke made a great call on that two-tire stop," Newman said. "When Jeff pitted and gave us the front row, that caught me by surprise.

"We were in a good spot. Restarts haven’t been our strong suit with the package we run, but I was happy with the situation I was in. In the end, I was the one guy with a shot at (catching Harvick). You live for that moment and drive hard and we just didn’t have quite enough."

Newman, who raced his way into the Championship Round with a last-lap nudge of Kyle Larson at Phoenix a week ago, contemplated a similar scenario as he raced alongside Harvick late in the race. He resisted the urge.

"I thought about hauling it in there, wide open under Kevin, but that wasn’t the right thing to do," Newman said. "I wouldn’t have wanted him to do that to me. … If we were close enough on the last lap it might have been a different game. But I wasn’t. I slipped off of Turn 4 coming to the white (flag) and it was pretty much over."

The NASCAR Wire Service contributed to this report.

Posted on by Staff Report

NASCAR Sprint Cup champion’s media tour heads to NYC, ESPN

NASCAR Sprint Cup Series champion Kevin Harvick will take his title on the road, making several media stops this week.

On Monday, Harvick will be on ESPN’s SportsCenter, live at 2:40 p.m. ET as well as SiriusXM NASCAR Radio at 3 p.m. ET. You can catch him on NBC Sports Network’s "NASCAR America" at 4:30 p.m. ET and FOX Sports 1’s "NASCAR Race Hub" 5 p.m. ET

On Tuesday, he’ll start the day on FOX New York’s "Good Day New York" at 7:40 a.m. ET. Then he’ll be "Live with Kelly and Michael" at 9 a.m. ET (check local listings for the time in your area), and he’ll end the night on the "Late Show with David Letterman" at 11:35 p.m. ET on CBS. You can also catch him around the SiriusXM dial with live interviews from 11 a.m. to noon ET.

Harvick also will appear on Tuesday’s edition of "Street Signs" on CNBC, which airs weekdays from 2-3 p.m. ET.

On Wednesday, the tour will take him back to Bristol, Connecticut and the headquarters of ESPN, where his title campaign started with a visit during Chase Across North America in September. He’ll also talk with CNN’s Rachel Nichols for her show "Unguarded," which airs Fridays at 10:30 p.m. ET.

Stay tuned to NASCAR.com and @NASCAR for more updates.

MORE:

READ: Latest
Chase news

PLAY: Monitor your Chase Grid Game picks

WATCH: Latest
NASCAR video

FOLLOW LIVE: Get
RaceView
Posted on by Staff Report

Bowtie Brand earns 38th championship, 12th consecutive

Chevrolet clinched its 38th NASCAR Sprint Cup Series manufacturers’ championship on Sunday at Homestead-Miami Speedway, earning the honor for the 12th consecutive season.

FULL CHASE COVERAGE

• Chase hub page
• Chase Grid games
• #MyChaseNation

"Winning the Manufacturers’ championship is one of the goals we set at the beginning of every season," Jim Campbell, U.S. Vice President, Performance Vehicles and Motorsports, said. "This championship is the result of great teamwork by the owners, drivers, crew chiefs, crews and technical partners.

"Special thanks to the Chevrolet powertrain team, along with the engine shops at Hendrick Motorsports and Earnhardt-Childress Racing for delivering the right combination of power, fuel economy, and reliability throughout the entire season. Congratulations to everyone who has made this special achievement possible for Chevrolet."

Chevrolet drivers won a series best 20 races in 2014 among seven drivers: Kevin Harvick (5 wins), Dale Earnhardt Jr. (4); Jeff Gordon (4), Jimmie Johnson (4), AJ Allmendinger (1), Kurt Busch (1) and Kasey Kahne (1).

MORE:

READ: Latest
Chase news

PLAY: Monitor your Chase Grid Game picks

WATCH: Latest
NASCAR video

FOLLOW LIVE: Get
RaceView
Posted on by Staff Report

NASCAR President Mike Helton, ESPN President John Skipper address industry

RELATED: Follow your picks in the Chase Battle Grid Presented by Toyota

ESPN, one of three NASCAR television partners from 2007-14, signs off its live race coverage for the final time today. NBC will come aboard next season, along with returning partner FOX.

FULL CHASE COVERAGE

• Chase hub page
• Chase Grid games
• #MyChaseNation

In the drivers’ meeting, NASCAR saluted its partner for 28 years with a special video, highlighting memorable moments from ESPN races through the decades. NASCAR President Mike Helton also thanked the Worldwide Leader in Sports during his remarks.

"And a bit bittersweet is our relationship with ESPN," Helton said. "It comes to a conclusion today. I look around in the room, and I see a few faces that remember when there was no such thing as ESPN. There wasn’t even cable.

"And so NASCAR benefited greatly from the pioneers in the broadcasting and the cable industries that decided they could do what they did and then they looked to NASCAR as content. It’s been a great honor to have this relationship with you guys for so long."

John Wildhack, ESPN’s vice president of programming and production, and ESPN President and the Co-Chair of Disney Media John Skipper were acknowledged by Helton, who invited Skipper to address the industry.

"I want to thank the members of the France family, Brian, Lesa, Jim," Skipper said and then turned to NASCAR Chairman and CEO Brian France’s young son. "I’m even going to thank Luke because you know life is short, and there could be another deal in the future so I just want to cover all my bases."

After 10 years with FOX and NBC, the next window for broadcast rights opens in 2025.

"I want to thank the owners of the tracks," Skipper continued. "I want to thank the team owners, the crew chiefs, the drivers particularly. You guys have been so accommodating to us, so welcoming. Sometimes humored us, but you’ve made it a real pleasure and privilege to work with this sport."

MORE:

READ: Latest
Chase news

PLAY: Monitor your Chase Grid Game picks

WATCH: Latest
NASCAR video

FOLLOW LIVE: Get
RaceView
Posted on by Zack Albert

Recapping the day at Homestead for the three odd drivers out

MORE: Full race results | Final season standings | Harvick wins championship

HOMESTEAD, Fla. — With 20 laps left in the Chase for the NASCAR Sprint Cup finale, all four title contenders were occupying the top four positions on the track. Some of the hardest racing of the season had gotten them there, but only one could hoist the championship trophy after the nerve-shaking finish.

Kevin Harvick survived everything the remaining three could throw at him, claiming his first title in NASCAR’s premier series Sunday at Homestead-Miami Speedway. Ryan Newman, Denny Hamlin and Joey Logano came up short in the Ford EcoBoost 400, but the varying paths prompted varying reactions with equal parts resignation, acceptance and heartache.


How the three odd men out of the Championship 4 fared Sunday:

Ryan Newman, Richard Childress Racing No. 31 Chevrolet

Sunday’s finish: 2nd.

Final standings: 2nd (previous career-best: 6th in 2002, 2003 and 2005)

How it played out: The lone winless driver eligible for the crown started the farthest back on the grid, in 21st place, but steadily worked his way up the leaderboard to crack the top five by Lap 72. Newman benefited from crew chief Luke Lambert’s call for two tires during the team’s final pit stop, then inherited second place when Jeff Gordon pitted under caution with 11 laps remaining. From there, Newman fought hard but gave way to Harvick’s charge to the front on the next-to-last restart, taking the checkered flag exactly half a second behind the 2014 champion in the team’s best finish of the season.

What they said: "I was happy the situation I was in. I mean, our sport would have been better if the four of us were on the front two rows, absolutely, but in the end I was one of the guys that had a shot at it, and I was happy to be in that position. But man, you live for the moment and you drive as hard as you can. We didn’t have quite enough. That’s disappointing, but like I said, it was an awesome team effort, and I think, again, this is a great race track to have a race like this, and I thought there was some amazing passing, and we don’t get that at every race track. It was fun from my standpoint to come from where we came from this year. We started the season in Daytona getting spun out in the last five laps to being the runner‑up for the championship. It was a good rebound for us."

Support system: Team owner Richard Childress has won championships before, securing six as a team owner with NASCAR Hall of Famer Dale Earnhardt. But a win Sunday would have given the 69-year-old former driver his first title in 20 years. "It hurts. Now I know talking to Ned Yost last week how he feels, coming up short," Childress said, comparing his situation to the World Series loss for the Kansas City Royals manager, a close personal friend.

Denny Hamlin, Joe Gibbs Racing No. 11 Toyota

Sunday’s finish: 7th

Final standings: 3rd (career-best: 2nd, 2010)

How it played out: Hamlin started eighth and wound up being the only driver among the ousted three to lead laps in the season finale. His race turned, however, when crew chief Darian Grubb elected to keep his driver on the track during the 11th of 13 yellow flags. The move gave Hamlin the lead in the 253rd of 267 laps, but the driver said over his team radio that he wasn’t sure about the strategy: "I don’t know. I thought we could have beat them on pit road." On older tires and with two restarts still to come, Hamlin held the top spot for as long as he could until Harvick stormed to the front with eight laps left. His car continued to fade, a top-five slipping away in the final few circuits.

What they said: "You know, for me there’s not one thing I would have done different. I mean, we brought a car that was capable of winning. I just don’t know how to express it enough. Sometimes breaks go your way, sometimes they don’t. They just didn’t go our way. There’s not much else we could have done with the strategy that we played with the cautions that came out. I wouldn’t do a thing different. I think we overachieved greatly by being here, and we haven’t had the speed to compete for race wins all year, and we did today, on the race that really mattered. Just came up short. You know, this is the third time around that I’ve had an opportunity to win a championship, but each one has been different, and this has by far been our best effort as far as going out there and trying to get it done."

Support system: Hamlin had NBA legend and personal friend Michael Jordan behind his pit stall as part of a star-studded cheering section. But he also had Grubb thinking outside the box in an effort to gain track position.

The crew chief led a team huddle at the back of the hauler, offering words of encouragement. Though he said he’d have loved a do-over, he wasn’t completely faulting the decision. "Hindsight is 20-20. It’s the wrong call. But, at the time it was the perfect call," Grubb said. "We were able to get out there and get the lead. We had, I think, 17 laps to go. We were walking away from them and the next closest guy with tires was in seventh, I believe. So, we had it wrapped up there and then two quick cautions are what killed us."

Joey Logano, Team Penske No. 22 Ford

Sunday’s finish: 16th

Final standings: 4th (previous career-best: 8th, 2013)

How it played out: Logano started his day in ninth place and soon became a fixture among the top five. Though he found plenty of speed in his No. 22 entry, pivotal miscues on his final pit stops were his undoing. Logano lost some momentum after scraping the wall near the Lap 180 mark, but the bigger pitfalls came during the team’s final stops. In the race’s seventh caution, Logano lost six spots in a 14.6-second stop when a dropped lug nut caused a delay. Two stops later, disaster struck when the car slipped off the jack right after the crew had removed the left-side tires. The Penske crew fixed the issue but only after the No. 22 had spent an agonizing 49.3 seconds in the pit box. Logano rejoined the race in 29th place, slamming his fist on the steering wheel as his hopes for a first Sprint Cup title evaporated.

What they said: "Unfortunately, a great season like that makes this overall finish fourth because of one mistake, but that’s what the rules are. We understand that. This team did a great job of consistently being fast. In the previous years that would have been perfect. But coming into this race and the way the points go, it doesn’t pay any more obviously. Just didn’t execute perfectly tonight, and for that reason we’ll finish fourth. But we still feel like we did a lot better than fourth this season."

Support system: Crew chief Todd Gordon said he suspected Sunday’s pit-road gaffe was the first time all season that the car had slipped off the jack. The level of dejection was evident on his driver’s face afterward, but Gordon said that once time passes after Sunday’s setback that the team will be able to relish the strides made in Logano’s second year under the Penske umbrella.

"If you look at the whole deal, all the work, there is a lot to be proud of this season," Gordon said. "Five wins and getting ourselves into the Championship Round are good things. I felt like execution would be the dictator tonight and we didn’t do that. That is the long and the short. We had issues and had them late enough that you can’t recover from them. We had a few and we just didn’t execute."

MORE:

READ: Latest
Chase news

PLAY: Monitor your Chase Grid Game picks

WATCH: Latest
NASCAR video

FOLLOW LIVE: Get
RaceView
Posted on by Zack Albert

Robin Pemberton: ‘It really is such a small, minute deal that it’s fine’

RELATED: Follow your picks in the Chase Battle Grid Presented by Toyota

HOMESTEAD, Fla. — The presence of Hendrick Motorsports representatives was requested at the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series hauler after Sunday’s season finale for disobeying a NASCAR directive.

Doug Duchardt, executive vice president and general manager of Hendrick Motorsports, and Chad Knaus, crew chief for the team’s No. 48 Chevrolet and six-time series champion Jimmie Johnson, were among those called to the hauler at Homestead-Miami Speedway. Though a summons to the NASCAR garage’s version of the principal’s office usually carries a certain amount of gloom and doom, NASCAR Senior Vice President of Competition and Racing Development Robin Pemberton said the discussion was no monumental dust-up.

"We just had a discussion on pit road between our official and Chad and really it was just to discuss what they tried to do," Pemberton said. "That’s it, really. It was really not a big deal. We were just trying to clarify what went on, that’s all."

FULL CHASE COVERAGE

• Chase hub page
• Chase Grid games
• #MyChaseNation

Duchardt said that the disagreement centered on whether Knaus’ crew was allowed to place a wheel spacer on the No. 48 Chevy.

"During one of the pit stops, we had a loose wheel and Chad wanted to put a wheel spacer on to help the threads on the back … you hurt the threads of the tire with a loose wheel," Duchardt said. "Chad wanted to put a wheel spacer on, they told him not to, he said he wanted to so we didn’t have another loose wheel and that was the misunderstanding. Then we talked about it, and that was that."

Duchardt said that adding a wheel spacer was "a common situation," but Pemberton would not say whether the maneuver was a violation of NASCAR rules.

"I’m not going to get into the weeds on that, but sometimes if you thought you had an issue with a wheel stud or something mechanical like that, you may need to put a spacer on to get some clean threads for the lug nuts," Pemberton said. "I have no idea, and that’s not our question. It really is such a small, minute deal that it’s fine. Everything’s good."

Pemberton said there would be no penalties or further action taken by NASCAR officials, adding that had Knaus asked permission to place the wheel spacer, the disagreement would have blown over.

"That would be a better way to do that, but in the heat of the battle, it’s fine," Pemberton said. "Everything’s fine. It’s so far under that, it’s ridiculous. We’re good."

Pemberton added that the race officials’ decision to park the GoFAS Racing No. 32 entry driven by Blake Koch was for "disobeying a directive from the (race control) tower." Koch’s car played a role in the final two caution periods in the Ford EcoBoost 400, first in a two-car crash with J.J. Yeley and the second for dropping debris.

Pemberton also said that a review of the rear suspension parts that officials confiscated from the Roush Fenway Racing No. 17 Ford driven would begin Monday at the NASCAR Research & Development Center in Concord, North Carolina. NASCAR officials found the issue on Ricky Stenhouse Jr.’s car during a Friday inspection ahead of Coors Light Pole Qualifying.

MORE:

READ: Latest
Chase news

PLAY: Monitor your Chase Grid Game picks

WATCH: Latest
NASCAR video

FOLLOW LIVE: Get
RaceView
Posted on by Zack Albert

NASCAR President also extends best wishes to Ambrose ahead of final start

RELATED: Follow your picks in the Chase Battle Grid Presented by Toyota

HOMESTEAD, Fla. — The final NASCAR drivers’ meeting of the year had extra glitz greeting a full complement of celebrity guests and industry leaders. It also came with an extra reminder from NASCAR President Mike Helton.

Helton addressed drivers, crew chiefs and team principals before Sunday’s Ford EcoBoost 400 (3 p.m. ET, ESPN), the season finale that will decide the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series championship.

"Today is historic. We’ll go into today’s race and come out later this afternoon with a champion," Helton said. "I ask each team on the track to remind yourselves constantly through the day, as we’ve had conversations publicly and privately, and you’ve exhibited very nicely on the race track how the events can unfold naturally. It’s very important that today’s race unfolds naturally, please, so that the fans can enjoy the event and when the race is over with, we can all celebrate our 2014 championship."

FULL CHASE COVERAGE

• Chase hub page
• Chase Grid games
• #MyChaseNation

Helton also singled out Marcos Ambrose, who will return to continue his racing career in his native Australia after the season finale. Though it may well be his final start after a nine-year run spanning all three national series, Helton said he was welcome back in NASCAR any time.

"It’s been fun having you with us," Helton said as Ambrose stood and waved during an ovation. "We wish you the best in all you do."

Helton extended a tribute to America’s military by recognizing representatives with the Honor and Remember foundation and NASCAR Troops to the Track Presented by Bank of America in partnership with the Armed Forces Foundation. He also acknowledged delegates from all three manufacturers that participate in NASCAR’s top division.

MORE:

READ: Latest
Chase news

PLAY: Monitor your Chase Grid Game picks

WATCH: Latest
NASCAR video

FOLLOW LIVE: Get
RaceView
Posted on by Nascar

Drivers, crew chiefs will transition to new roles in 2015

RELATED: Driver, crew chief changes for 2015

HOMESTEAD, Fla. — Steve Letarte began his career at Hendrick Motorsports as a 16-year-old floor sweeper.

Today, he climbs atop the pit box of the organization’s No. 88 Chevrolet for the final time as crew chief for Dale Earnhardt Jr.

"It was great that I got to work with him," Earnhardt said after the team’s win at Martinsville Speedway. "He turned my career around. He put a great team together. What he’s accomplished is impressive as hell. I’m overwhelmed with what he’s been able to do.

FULL CHASE COVERAGE

• Chase hub page
• Chase Grid games
• #MyChaseNation

"He put me in Victory Lane. The team he’s assembled, (an) incredible group. That’s all Steve. He seems to have evolved into one of the best crew chiefs in the garage."

Headed to the broadcast booth next year to work with NBC Sports, Letarte has won 15 times at the Cup level, with drivers Jeff Gordon and Earnhardt Jr.

The Ford EcoBoost 400 is the season-ending race for NASCAR’s Sprint Cup Series, and Letarte is one of several folks in the garage here at Homestead-Miami Speedway preparing for a new role in 2015.

Among other changes scheduled to take place:

• Over in the Roush-Fenway Racing camp, driver Carl Edwards will make his final start in the No. 99 Ford. RFR has been the Sprint Cup Series home for Edwards since 2004. Next season, he’ll move to Joe Gibbs Racing where he will join drivers Kyle Busch, Denny Hamlin and Matt Kenseth.

• Veteran crew chief Jimmy Fennig, Edwards’ crew chief, will also change positions, coming down off the pit box following a long and successful career in the sport. One of the most respected crew chiefs in the garage, Fennig (pictured) is expected to remain with RFR in some capacity. Fennig won 40 races and the first Chase for the NASCAR Sprint Cup in 2004 with Kurt Busch.

• RFR will remain a three-team organization on the Sprint Cup level as Trevor Bayne will begin competing full-time for the group in 2015. Bayne won the 2011 Daytona 500 with Wood Brothers Racing, for whom he has competed on a limited basis.

• A change in crew chiefs is also expected for the No. 21 Wood Brothers team as the legendary organization ends a relationship with fellow Ford group RFR to align with Team Penske. Current crew chief Donnie Wingo has led five drivers to seven wins at the Sprint Cup level, however his 2015 plans have not been announced.

• It’s the final ride for Marcos Ambrose, driver of the Richard Petty Motorsports No. 9 Ford on Sunday as well. Ambrose will head back to his native homeland of Australia to resume a career in the V8 Supercar Series. Former Team Penske driver Sam Hornish Jr. will step into the No. 9 seat for RPM next season. In Sunday’s drivers’ meeting, NASCAR President Mike Helton saluted Ambrose, saying, "We wish you the best of luck as you go back Down Under. Come back and see us any time."

MORE:

READ: Latest
Chase news

PLAY: Monitor your Chase Grid Game picks

WATCH: Latest
NASCAR video

FOLLOW LIVE: Get
RaceView